Incense Lamps

Incense is an ancient and highly potent aromatic material used for ceremonial purposes, to enhance the atmosphere of a room or building, and to perfume oneself and one’s possessions. The ephemeral vaporized oils and aromatic compounds are absorbed through the nose and lungs into the bloodstream, where they disperse throughout the body. The scents produced are thought to impart spiritual benefits, and the burning of incense is a form of meditation and prayer.

In modern times, incense is generally consumed as a fragrant powder or a stick. It can also be burned as a fragranced air freshener, and scented waxes can be melted on a hot plate to make fragrant candles.

Throughout much of history, incense was made from ground wood and resinous materials such as myrrh, frankincense, and aloes. The raw materials are mixed together with a binder such as clay, and formed into shapes such as sticks or pellets. An incense burner, or censer, is required to burn the incense, and it may be a simple metal container with a handle and a lid that can be lifted off. It is common for a samurai warrior to perfume his helmet and armor before battle with incense, presumably to achieve a sense of invincibility.

The earliest spherical incense burners were probably developed in China during the Tang Dynasty (618–907). There are thirteen surviving examples, including the silver-inlaid gimbal incense burner in the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington and another in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The spherical burners also appeared in the Islamic world, as illustrated by an engraving of an incense burner commissioned by Lorenzo de’ Medici for his trusted secretary Pietro da Bibbiena.

A similar spherical incense burner was reportedly used by the Mamluk ruler Badr al-Din Baysari in his palace at Damascus, in 1270. This is now in the British Museum, and it is far larger than Chinese spherical censers of the Tang period.

The earliest examples of the spherical incense burner with a gimbal mechanism were probably designed to hold perfumed wax candles. However, these were not the most popular method of using them. The spherical censers were also sometimes used to warm the hands of clergy and other people who wished to avoid the strong smell of burning incense. Court treasuries contain several references to the use of these objects as hand warmers, and they were also used in European households until about 1740. After that, they were mostly used to burn incense.